With just a week until Thanksgiving in the US and not much longer until Christmas, this would be a great time for one of the top streaming services to release a feel-good romcom, especially if it’s made in Turkey so we joke pretending to confuse the bird with the land. So we’re very happy to see Netflix going a step further and delivering exactly what we needed: a Turkish romantic drama set in New York.
The setup is simple enough: Kivanç Tatlitug and Beren Saat are Mehmet and Serin, two married strangers whose paths cross when Serin’s luggage is accidentally picked up by another passenger at JFK International Airport. What starts as a search for lost luggage becomes a story about love, second chances and loyalty during an ‘unforgettable’ night in New York.
Is Last Call for Istanbul worth streaming?
It sure seems like it. The leads are charismatic and charming, they’re both damn cute and it’s written by Nuran Even Sit, who wrote The gift. The director is Gonenc Uyanik, best known for The protector.
The fact that both characters are married (to other people) adds an interesting element to what could otherwise be a fairly predictable romcom. Expect a lot of tension, a lot of longing and possibly a lot of frowning faces as our protagonists struggle with feelings of attraction and their loyalty to their spouses. That’s a whole extra layer of the usual will-they-won’t-they tension of a typical rom-com, and the promotional copy suggests that the characters will have to reckon with their own pasts in some way.
Another reason to watch this one is that the leads are old friends. They starred together in the series Aşk-ı Memnu, so there will be an easy chemistry that should be evident on screen. All in all, it seems like this just might be the case – oh yeah! – a Turkish delight.
Last call for Istanbul will be available on Netflix from November 24, 2023.
